Young, beautiful, and destitute, widowed Anna Traverne finds herself at the mercy of her brother-in-law Lord Ridley, who offers her and her little daughter a home for a price: Anna must become his mistress. Frightened, revolted, gently bred Anna can see no way out – until a handsome jewel thief breaks into Gordon Hall in search of a fabled set of emeralds. Surprised by Anna in the act of purloining the jewels, Julian Chase is captured and carted off to Newgate to hang for the theft. The emeralds remain missing; despite being tortured, Julian insists he has no idea where they are. By the time he manages to cheat the hangman, though, Julian has figured out what must have happened: the green-eyed angel whose screams led to his downfall had to have taken them. And he is right: finding herself in possession of the emeralds after Julian's capture, Anna seizes on the chance to escape from Lord Ridley and flees to the tea plantation in Ceylon that is her home. But once Julian knows the truth, he comes after her, traveling halfway across the world to reclaim what he feels is rightfully his – and to take a sensuous revenge on the larcenous young beauty whose fate he now holds in his hands.

New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestseller Karen Robards is the six-time winner of Affaire de Coeur's Silver Pen Award for favorite romance author.

“Behold the wondrous star in the firmament of historical romance that is Karen Robards. With each new book her luster intensifies....” – Romantic Times

Karen Robards writes “spellbinding romance.” – Publisher's Weekly

“Incomparable.” – Affaire de Coeur

“Karen Robards penetrates the steamiest of women's fantasies.” – Chicago Sun-Times

“Karen Robards is one of the most popular voices in women's fiction.” – Newsweek

“Robards is one terrific storyteller.” – Chicago Tribune

About the Author:
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved to write. My first book was a ten-page effort written at age five for my grandmother. Throughout grade school, high school and college I wrote for various school publications. When I was eighteen, my first professionally published piece—a humorous anecdote—appeared in Reader’s Digest. Still, it never occurred to me that I might become a professional writer. I aimed for a career as a lawyer and was actually in law school when I sold my first book. When that happened, the world lost a would-be lawyer and gained a writer. That book, which is still in print, is Island Flame, and it was published when I was twenty-four. Since then, I've written over forty books, which regularly appear on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller lists, among others. The mother of three sons, I read, I write, and I chauffeur children. That’s my life.